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Big Sky Connection Legislation in Congress would nearly double the amount of river miles protected as Wild and Scenic in the state. The bill is getting a hearing on Tues., June 7, and is of particular interest to brewers who depend on clean water. Comments from Matt Leow ("leo"), executive director, Montana Brewers Association; and Maggie Doherty, co-owner, Kalispell Brewing Company.
Click on the image above for the audio. The Montana Headwaters Legacy Act would protect segments of 20 rivers and streams in the state. (digidreamgrafix/Adobe Stock)
Eric Tegethoff
June 1, 2022
June is National Rivers Month, and in Montana, a push to protect more rivers is swelling.
The Montana Headwaters Legacy Act in Congress would nearly double the amount of river miles protected as Wild and Scenic in the state. After being reintroduced in 2021, it's finally scheduled for a hearing next Tuesday in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Breweries from around the state have sent a letter to Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Matt Rosendale, both R-Mont., urging them to support the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act.
"The number one ingredient in beer is water. We should not forget that, and that is really the crux of our interest in this," said Matt Leow, executive director of the Montana Brewers Association. "We know that it takes clean water to make great beer, and so, brewers definitely have a vested interest in protecting our water in Montana."
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., introduced the bill. In a statement to Public News Service, he said, "This legislation is built from the ground up with the backing of a diverse coalition of stakeholders, and it will ensure that some of our most breathtaking rivers will stay that way, protecting our outdoor economy and way of life."
There doesn't appear to be any organized opposition to the bill.
Maggie Doherty, co-owner of Kalispell Brewing Co., said protecting Montana's rivers and landscapes - which are key to the state's outdoor-recreation economy - can benefit everyone.
"We see that once we take care of the environment around us, business, everything else can boom," she said. "It's not an and/or. We don't have to pit business against the environment. It can work in concert."
Doherty, who considers herself a "river rat," said her kids now are exploring Montana's rivers, too.
"Rivers teach us so much about ourselves and the understanding of the natural world around us," she said, "and it gives me a place and a space to think about the future and the places that I want my children, and hopefully future generations, to enjoy."
The Montana Headwaters Legacy Act would protect 385 miles of river in the state, including segments of the Gallatin, Smith and Yellowstone rivers.
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PNS - Wednesday, June 1, 2022 - Americans reported to now be traumatized and some helpless about gun violence; Virginia Church pushes toward a clean-energy future; during Rivers Month - call to protect more Montana iconic rivers.
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Click on the image above for the audio.
PNS - Wednesday, June 1, 2022 - House Democrats push forward on new gun control bills; Trump aide subpoenaed to testify before the federal grand jury; White House releases new plan to tackle inflation; Former Clinton campaign lawyer found not guilty of lying to FBI; South Korean super-group BTS speaks out against anti-Asian violence.
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Big Sky Connection In Montana and elsewhere, philanthropy has not historically funded efforts to address the United States' racial wealth gaps. Comments from Edgar Villanueva, author of Decolonizing Wealth, who argues the sector needs to make a shift to right historical wrongs. It's a topic he's discussing this week in Montana.
Eric Tegethoff
May 31, 2022
There are $1 trillion in the philanthropy sector, but only a small amount of the money goes toward closing racial disparities across the nation.
Edgar Villanueva, author of the book "Decolonizing Wealth," said the sector should rethink how it gives. He pointed out less than a tenth of philanthropic giving goes to nonprofit organizations led by Black, Indigenous or people of color working specifically on issues of racial or social equity.
"We are still kind of thinking of philanthropy and giving in an old-fashioned way that is really about charity, and putting a band-aid on issues," Villanueva contended. "Versus funding organizations who are on the front lines of pushing for more transformative change in our communities, and especially around issues of racial justice."
Villanueva is the keynote speaker at a Montana Nonprofit Association summit this Thursday in Helena.
Villanueva acknowledged his ideas about redistributing money come from Indigenous wisdom about restorative justice. His book introduces seven steps to healing: grieving, apologizing, listening, relating, representing, investing and repairing. He noted the money philanthropic foundations have now, was built in large part on the slave trade and Indigenous land.
"To not return some of that wealth back to the descendants of folks who helped to build this wealth is an injustice, in my point of view," Villanueva asserted. "That's what healing looks like. It is about righting a wrong that would help to close a race/wealth gap that exists in our communities as a result of history."
Villanueva's book includes the story of a North Carolina woman who discovered her wealth came from land taken from Native Americans, and her family owned slaves. He recounted she wrote apology letters to their descendants, and decided to focus her philanthropy on supporting the communities her family had harmed.
"And not only has that been great for the folks who have received that support, but she has been transformed into this person who has just been liberated from sort of the guilt and shame of history that's connected to her family," Villanueva explained.
He added the woman now is one of 500 members of a donor community within the Decolonizing Wealth Project known as Liberated Capital. The program is associated with four nonprofits in Montana.
Villanueva emphasized anyone can make more meaningful choices about the causes they donate to.
"There are small decisions that we can make every day that would really help to address the hundreds of years of marginalization that a lot of our communities have faced," Villanueva concluded.
